[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 178 (Thursday, December 3, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2889]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO DR. IRENE KHAN

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 3, 2009

  Mr. KUCINICH. Madam Speaker, the Obama Administration, in forging a 
new foreign policy that is more humane and less antagonistic towards 
other nations, would do well to follow the lead of the late Tom Lantos, 
who dedicated his life to the cause of human rights, an issue that has 
now become his legacy. Indeed, it is rare for the House to name an 
entity after one of its own, but the Tom Lantos Human Rights 
Commission, chaired by our colleague Jim McGovern, can rightly claim 
that distinction.
  Throughout his public career, Tom Lantos and his wife, Annette, 
maintained a deep and enduring commitment to human rights. Among the 
members of this chamber, Tom Lantos was widely respected across the 
political spectrum for his knowledge of foreign policy and commitment 
to human rights. The issue was the very core of his beliefs and his 
eloquent voice became this chamber's conscience on many international 
issues.
  Few in today's world can match Tom Lantos' commitment and 
achievements in the cause of human rights, but if there were such a 
person, it would be Dr. Irene Khan, who in 2001 became the first woman, 
the first Asian, the first Bangladeshi and the first Muslim to hold the 
position of Secretary General of Amnesty International.
  Dr. Khan's caring about human rights victims and the poor dates back 
to her native Bangladesh's early struggle for independence, as she 
witnessed widespread poverty and multiple threats to human dignity. It 
has been a combination of her personal outreach to human rights victims 
and case studies from around the world, combined with her professional 
involvement in U.N. Organizations, that led to her being selected to 
head Amnesty International.
  In her recently published book, The Unheard Truth, Dr. Khan describes 
the divergent tracks of a fellow Bangladeshi who was born in the same 
household and she grew up with, and while Khan went on to be a 
successful lawyer, her friend, Fajal, suffered a lifetime of violence 
and unemployment, and is now disabled, living in a shack in one of 
Dhaka's sprawling slums, surviving on handouts.
  For Dr. Khan, this is a grim reminder of how people remain hopelessly 
trapped in poverty, often due to circumstances beyond economic 
conditions but rather the result of political repression, famine, war, 
or simply the insecurity and fear inherent in their local surroundings.
  In her book, Dr. Khan reveals a more acute understanding of the 
forces that bring about human rights abuses. Poverty, she argues, is 
more than the lack of material resources, it is all about fighting 
deprivation, exclusion, insecurity and powerlessness.
  As the numbers of people living in poverty swell to upwards of 2 
billion, she argues that poverty is the world's worst human rights 
crisis. By raising the issue of rights, Dr. Zhan is not pointing 
fingers but providing a formula for sustainable and equitable 
solutions, and giving people the means to change the power imbalance 
that keeps them in poverty.
  To achieve Tom Lantos' vision of the banner of human rights waving 
``over every corner of the world,'' I recommend that international 
leaders adhere to Dr. Khan's compelling message on the need to empower 
the world's poor with the basic economic, social, political, and legal 
rights to assure them a strong voice in shaping their own future.

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